Child Development, Your Baby at 12 Months

During the first year of a baby’s life, his/her parents watch him/her growing and developing in amusement. The question is whether a baby is developing right the way he/she should and what changes occur there.

Height and Weight of a Baby

An average weight of a 12-month-old baby is 10-12 kg while the height amounts to 75-80 cm. At the same time, it’s important to remember that the mentioned figures may differ. The depend on the sex of your baby. In the majority of cases, boys develop faster in terms of physiology than girls. On the 12th month of his/her life, a baby gains approximately 350 g.

As for the weight he/she gains starting from the moment he/she was born, amounts to, approximately, 7 kg. The 12th month of a baby’s life is the time when he/she becomes 1.5 cm higher. During the first year of the life, a baby becomes 25 cm higher. Of course, you shouldn’t forget that each baby is unique.

Consequently, the development of each baby has certain peculiarities. If the development of our baby goes a bit different, you shouldn’t consider such likes differences to be the signs of some pathologies. If you have any questions concerning the development of your baby, you may consult the pediatrician that keeps the course of your baby’s development under control.

Going for a Walk With at 12 Month Old Baby

If the weather is warm, you may go for a walk if your baby is not asleep at the moment and you don’t have to feed him/her. During winter, a baby, as a rule, falls asleep while you’re walking with him/her. If it’s winter time and the weather is really cold (below 150°С) or there is a strong wind, your baby may feel uncomfortable. Gusting wind or cold weather that’s accompanied by a mix of snow and rain or strong wind may serve as reason for you to refuse go for a walk.

Sleeping Pattern of at 12 Month Old Baby

In the majority of cases, a baby is able to sleep during the nighttime for 9-10 hours without waking up. It should be pointed out that the number of hours your baby sleeps during a day and the nighttime as well as the number of times your baby falls asleep may differ. There are babies who feel fine if they have a rest one time during a day for 2-2,5 hours. At the same time, there are babies who need to sleep more during a day. If your baby prefers to sleep several times a day, he/she may sleep for 1-1,5 hours each time.

Vaccination

Once your baby turns 12 months old, he/she needs to be vaccinated against measles, rubella and epidemic parotitis (mumps) under the condition that there are no contradictions. Possible contradictions are detected by a pediatrician and a number of other doctors. Nowadays, in the majority of cases, combined vaccine are very popular. If a baby refers to the high-risk group of babies (for instance, if a baby’s mother had hepatitis B when he/she was born), should also be vaccinated against this disease.

Skills and Abilities at 12 Month Old Baby

A 12-month-old baby has acquired a lot of skills already. In other words, he/she can do a number of things. It refers not only to his/her physical activity, but also to the development of his/her speech, skills in communication and the games he/she is able to play. A 12-month-old baby has both feet firmly on the ground. The majority of babies are able to walk without having something to lean on. Besides, he/she is able to stand up without holding on to a bed or to a crossbar of a play pen. Mind that a baby is able to stand up from a seated position. Your baby is also able to play for a long time in a seated position. Of course, he/she still falling sometimes when walking. The thing is that there should pass at least 1,5-2 months starting from the moment your baby made the first step for him/her to walk with a firm tread. Your baby combines walking and crawling as well as sitting down. He/she is actively moving all the time.

As they say, you need to constantly keep an eye on your little fidget. The fact is that the more active your baby becomes, the more likely it is for him/her to get traumatized. Remember that at this age your baby becomes very much interested in stairs. He/she is already able to go up several steps.

The development of his/her speech is also obvious. A baby starts to pronounce two-syllable words more often. For example, “ba-ba da”, “ma-ma di”. He/she is actively changing the tone of the speech. An average baby of this age knows 10-15 words. Many babies at this age do not stop “talking”, their speech becomes more emotional. There are the first signs of your baby being able to show empathy towards others. For example, he/she may show that “he/she feels sorry for a toy-hear” or cradle a toy in arms.

Your baby is able to remember the events that occurred in his/her life for not a very long time. He/she already has preferences in terms of things he/she likes to do the most. Besides, he/she has games that he likes and dislikes.

The development of a 1-year-old baby, considering the fact that he/she likes to communicate with someone more now, depends largely on an adult person (his mother and father). A baby likes to play games very much. For example, games that imply the use of fingers. The most popular games of such like a type are “soroka-belochka” and “fingers”. When playing these games, a baby should bend his/her fingers in turns. A baby repeats the movements an adult makes. If you do the exercises that aim to develop fine motor skills, you may also encourage the development of a baby's speech while doing them.

For example, while doing the exercises, you may learn nursery rhymes and children’s verses with him or her or tell your baby short stories. Babies of this age like to play with a ball. They also like the games where they should be physically active. A baby is now able to listen to you for a longer time when you’re reading out fairytales. Many babies also like to look through books with pictures, especially if the pictures are bright and easy to understand.

The Diet of a 1 Year Old Baby

You need to feed a 12-month-old baby 5 times a day. Your baby may have a snack in between the major meals. Babies of this age like to crunch biscuits or rusks. They also like to eat apples.

The diet of a 12-month-old baby is quite various. Your baby should be provided with dairy products. It is great if you’re able to provide him/her with mother’s milk. If it’s impossible, you should give your baby an infant formula. The diet of your baby should also involve kefir and curd. If you want to give your baby cow’s milk, you should discuss it with the pediatrician that keeps the course of your baby’s development under control. As a rule, once a baby turns 1 year old, parents can give him/her cow’s milk to drink. Of course, you may also use a little bit of milk when cooking porridges, a vegetable puree, pudding etc.

However, this is only under the condition that his/her organism tolerates protein. Meat, fish and porridges should also be included in the diet of your baby. You can cook cutlets or noisettes out of meat or fish. The most favorite meals of your baby at this age are juices and fruit puree. You can give your baby a soup with partially mashed vegetables for dinner. Once per 2 days you may add a yolk in either a soup or puree. In comparison with protein, a yolk is less antigenic.

It should be pointed out that there is no need for you to cook dishes (for example, a soup) specially for your baby. Actually, the majority of the dishes you cook for yourself can also be given to your baby under the condition that these dishes are not spicy and fat. Besides, the dishes that may be eaten by all the family without exception shouldn’t include lots of smoked products and condiments.

Defecation and Urination

A baby of this age needs to urinate 10-12 times a day. The figure may differ depending on the number of times a baby is provided something to drink and the temperature of the environment he/she’s in. As a rule, a baby needs to defecate once a day. However, this figure may also differ in terms of the frequency (for example, a healthy baby may need to defecate 2-3 times a day). Besides, the consistency of his/her stool may also be different. It depends on the foods your baby eats.